Fire-proof vault



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE@ CHARLES CARROLL GILMAN, OF ELDORA, IOWA.

FIRE-PROOF VAULT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 332,247, dated December l5, 1885.

Application filed August 27, 1885.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES CARROLL GILMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Eldora, Hardin county, Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Proof Safes, Vaults, and Storage-Receptacles, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to improve the fire-proof character of safes, vaults, and similar structures; and it consists in a safe or vault embracing in its construction a porous burned brick material known as porous terra-cotta or terracotta lumber.

In the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specication, Figure 1 represents a vertical transverse section on line y y, Fig. 2, of a safe embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-section of the same, taken on line .fr x of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lining removed from the safe. Fig. 4 represents the lining shown in Fig. 1 covered by plates of iron or steel.

Referring to the drawings, the body of the safe may be constructed of iron, A, and steel, B, as illustrated, or in any other approved manner that will insure the requisite strength. A lining, C, consisting of terra-cotta lumber or a porous burned brick material is applied to the interior of the safe to protect the contents thereof against ire and heat. Said lining' is produced in the following manner: Slabs of porous terracotta made in accord` ance with Reissued Letters Patent Nos. 10,419 and 10,420, and consisting, preferably, of one part clay and two parts sawdust, are pressed or molded into the shape and size desired before firing, or are sawed or trimmed with edged tools subsequently. The slabs are preferably made of a size to form a side, top, or bottom, and the pieces are secured together by nails or other efficient means, but preferably by a dovetail joint, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The slabs, if warped, are planed, and all edges are trimmed, so as to make close-tting joints.

Instead of each sideof the box-shaped 1ining being made in one piece, it may be made Serial No. 175,433. (No model.)

in two or more pieces, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3. The slabs are made from two to four inches in thickness, preferably not less than two.

In Figs. '1 and 2 I have shown the terracotta-lumber lining applied to the inside of the safe, while in Fig. 4 said lining is placed between the layers of iron or steel forming the walls of the safe.

Io prevent the box-shaped lining from sliding forward when used, as in Figs. 1 and 2, and in case it should notliit tightly, I screw to the iron of the safe small angle-irons D, which project in front of the lining, and retain the same in place. The door of the safe is also lined with the same material, held in place by angular clamping-plates E, screwed to the metal of the door, and overlapping the said lining, as shown in Fig. 2.

The said material is an excellent non-conductor'of heat, is absolutely lire-proof, and will not crack under the action of re or of water, if the latter is applied thereto while it is red hot. This is due to its porous character, and the said material is therefore admirably adapted for the purposes of this invention.

Ordinary brick or terracotta differs essentially from the porous terra-cotta described, for the former is a good conductor of heat, and will readily crack and fall to pieces when subjected while hot to the action of water. The porous terra-cotta possesses the further advantage that it may be sawed, nailed, and worked with edged tools, thus enabling separate parts to be accurately fitted together, so as to insure close and tight joints, and permitting dovetail joints to be used to secure the parts together.f

I am aware of the construction described in Letters Patent No. 11,842, to B. Sherwood, which consists in a lining of thin brick or tile inside of the outer shell, and within that a layer of a composition of alum and `clay made into the consistence of mortar, the said brick being used to protect the composition; but this I do not claim, as it differs essentially in many respects from my invention.

Having described my invention, what I slabs of a porous burned brick material fastlo claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ened together, substantially as described. is*- In testimony whereof I have signed my name l. A re-proof safe, vault, or similar rein the presence of two Witnesses.

5 ceptacle provided with a lining consistino of a porous burned brick material, substantially CHARLES CARROLL GILMAN as described.- Vitnesses:

2. A fire-prooi safe, vault, or similar re- G. E. GILMAN, ceptacle provided with a lining formed of l F. W. GILMAN. 

